By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

Detectives from the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff Investigation Division are investigating a homicide that occurred in North Richmond this morning.

At about 6:28 AM, Deputy Sheriffs were dispatched to the 500 block of Grove Avenue in North Richmond for a report that someone was shot in a vehicle. Deputies arrived and found a man suffering from gunshot wounds. The 22-year-old victim was transported to a local hospital and later taken by helicopter to a local trauma center. The victim was later pronounced deceased.

The victim is not being identified at this time. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact Sheriff’s Office Investigation Division at 925-313-2600. For any tips, email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.

Caltrans, on Friday, April 20 will open a long-awaited third eastbound lane on Interstate 580 to accommodate peak period traffic from San Rafael to Richmond. The opening of the lane marks a major milestone in the multi-year, $53 million project undertaken by Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) affiliate, in partnership with the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) and the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM), to convert the right shoulder to accommodate peak-period traffic from Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in San Rafael to a newly-expanded Richmond Parkway/Point Richmond exit in Richmond. The new lane typically will be open to traffic each day from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Artist’s rendering of the planned bicycle/pedestrian path on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge on the westbound upper deck. Courtesy of MTC.

A series of newly-installed electronic signs will indicate to motorists when the new third lane is open to traffic. These include both a large changeable message board on the Marin County approach to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and 20 smaller signs installed over each traffic lane on the bridge. The smaller signs will display green arrows to indicate open lanes or a red X to indicate a closed lane.

The opening of the new third lane will be preceded by a 9:00 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring local, regional and state officials who galvanized the partnership that delivered the new peak-period traffic lane and is now working to complete the first-ever bicycle/pedestrian link between Contra Costa and Marin counties.

MTC is the regional transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. BATA, which administers revenue from the region’s seven state-owned toll bridges, is funding the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Access Improvement Projects with support from Caltrans to integrate these improvements into the state’s traffic management system.

Part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

By Dan Borsuk

In a potential bid to receive federal Treasury Department aid for economically stagnating pockets of the county, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors added the Somersville Towne Center mall area, Rodeo and tracts in the North Richmond area to the Federal Opportunity Zone program on Tuesday. Without hearing comments from the public, the supervisors unanimously voted to add the three census tracts to the county’s recommendation to the new Federal Opportunity Zone program.

Opportunity Zones are a new community development program established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to encourage long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide. The program provides a tax incentive for investors to re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds that are dedicated to investing into Opportunity Zones designated by the governors of every U.S. state and territory. (Read more about how the Opportunity Zones program works, as well as its history and community of supporters.)

According to their website, the Economic Innovation Group originally developed the concept in 2015 to help address the persistent poverty and uneven recovery that have left too many American communities behind. The idea has since been championed by a wide-ranging coalition of investors, entrepreneurs, community developers, economists, and other stakeholders.

Prior to the board’s action, the Contra Costa County Conservation and Development Department said the state had identified 11 tracts in the county that qualified for the Federal Opportunity Zone Program. Those tracts either have poverty rates of more than 20 percent or median incomes below 80 percent of state or metropolitan areas. Those areas include the cities of Richmond, San Pablo, Pittsburg, Concord, Antioch and the unincorporated areas of Bay Point and North Richmond.

The county had a deadline of Thursday, March 15 to submit its Opportunity Zone recommendation to the state.

However, there is the possibility the Federal Opportunity Zone Program may not kick into effect in either Contra Costa County or in the Golden State, said Amalia Cunningham of the Contra Costa County Conservation and Development Department.

“Private Investment Opportunity Zones would be eligible for lower federal capital gain tax,” Cunningham informed supervisors. “This is the only identified incentive. There is no dedicated funding for the program nor has the state announced it will participate by lowering state capital gains tax for investment in Opportunity Zones.”

District 3 Supervisor Diane Burgis of Brentwood recommended that the area around the Somersville Towne Center in Antioch be added to the county Opportunity Zone Program based on a decline in economic activity in the area.

“We will be working with the city of Antioch on this proposal to include the Somersville area in the county Opportunity Zone proposal to the state,” said Cunningham.

The recommendation to add Rodeo came from District 5 Supervisor Federal Glover of Pittsburg and District 1 Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond recommended several tracts in North Richmond.

If the federal requirements are not enough to potentially squash the program, bureaucratic oversight might kill the program. Cunningham told supervisors the county is under a tight deadline to submit an application, along with public comments.

“States have been given an abbreviated timeline from the federal government to submit their tracts. The state’s draft list was made public on March 2 and local agencies comments are due by March 15,” she said.

Supervisor Mitchoff Faces June 5 Opponent

Supervisor Karen Mitchoff of Concord will face clinical psychologist Harmesh Kumar, 59, in a June 5 election for the District 4 board seat.

Kumar, who had unsuccessfully run for the Concord City Council in 2012 and recently withdrew plans to run for governor, said he wants to serve on the board of supervisors because “I want the people to win.” He told the ContraCostaHerald the existing board of supervisors are “against the poor.” He said Mitchoff and other supervisors represent the interests of the bureaucrats, not those of the people.

“I’m looking forward to a spirited debate on the issues facing District 4,” Mitchoff briefly told the Herald about her opponent and upcoming reelection.

Mitchoff has served on the board of supervisors since January 2011.

District 1 Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond, who is also up for reelection, but will not face an opponent since no one filed papers to run against the attorney on the filing deadline, Friday, March, 9.

Supervisors endorsed on a 5-0 consent action, state Senator Mike McGuire’s (D-North Bay) Senate Bill 833 that would create a red alert emergency system to issue and coordinate alerts following an evacuation order and requires the red alert system to incorporate a variety of notification resources.

Senator McGuire authored the bill in the aftermath of the massive wildfires that killed 40 persons, destroyed 6,000 houses and charred 170,000 acres in Lake, Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

Anti-Smoking Ordinance Passes

Supervisors also unanimously approved without public comment an ordinance banning smoking in approximately 10,000 dwelling units in unincorporated Contra Costa County. The ordinance will go into effect July 1, 2019 when county health officials are expected to have completed an education program informing landlords and tenants about the anti-smoking law.

Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill and the Alameda County Emergency Operations Center were selected by the supervisors in a consent action item as alternative temporary county seats for Contra Costa County “in the event of war or enemy caused disaster or the imminence of such disasters.”

The West County Detention Facility in Richmond. Photo courtesy of CCC Sheriff.

Group claims “retaliation for public criticism of detention conditions” at West County Detention Facility.

During an investigation by the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff, it was discovered the San Francisco-based Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC) volunteers repeatedly violated rules at the West County Detention Facility (WCDF) in Richmond, by providing their personal phone numbers and addresses to incarcerated persons; relaying messages to family and friends of incarcerated persons; receiving phone calls and mail from incarcerated persons; sending contraband to incarcerated persons; and depositing money into the accounts of incarcerated persons.

Photo courtesy of CIVIC.

According to the organization’s website, “CIVIC is devoted to abolishing U.S. immigration detention, while ending the isolation of people currently suffering in this profit-driven system.”

The investigation found approximately 20 CIVIC volunteers repeatedly violated the rules for an extended period.

On March 5, 2018, CIVIC’s clearance was revoked, but like other groups that lose their clearance, they can appeal. CIVIC has not invoked its right to appeal. Access for other some other organizations is currently being reviewed for possible violations.

“The Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff welcomes and partners with numerous community-based organizations and non-governmental groups to assist incarcerated person with their rehabilitation and re-entry back to their communities when they are released,” said Assistant Sheriff Matt Schuler. “While CIVIC’s clearance was revoked, we continue to partner with numerous community and volunteer groups that provide needed services and resources to incarcerated persons.”

There are currently over 20 programs available to the incarcerated population at West County Detention Facility. Many of the programs are run by volunteers from community-based organizations.

All volunteer groups that interact with the Office of the Sheriff incarcerated population and/or Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees must agree to the rules set forth in the Detention Facility Clearance Request. These cover: Harassment and Discrimination, Treatment of Offenders and Non-Fraternization, Code of Conduct/Ethics/Confidentiality Agreement and Custody Services Bureau Guidelines for Volunteers. Specific rules for volunteers include: must not engage in undue familiarity with inmates or family and friends of in-mates; must not contact or correspond with an inmate or their family; must not take or send messages or items on behalf of an inmate; and must not trade, barter, lend or engage in any personal transactions with any inmate.

Every volunteer must take a class that covers the guidelines and safety for civilians in the detention facility. They also sign an agreement and are warned that clearance will be revoked if they violate any of the rules.

CIVIC Denies Violations, Seeks Reinstatement

However, CIVIC – a nationwide network working to end the isolation and abuse of people in ICE detention through visitation, monitoring, and other types of support – denies the violations occurred and is calling on ICE and the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office to reinstate their community visitation program and free hotline at the WCDF.

“None of these actions are in violation of the facility’s policies which all CIVIC volunteers are forced to sign if they want to visit someone in ICE detention,” said Christina Fialho, an attorney and the co-founder/executive director of CIVIC. “In terminating our program, the Sheriff’s Department and ICE are not just trying to punish us, they are trying to send a message to other activists to stay silent. We will not be silenced.”

Since 2011, CIVIC has operated a visitation program and free hotline for people in ICE detention at WCDF. Last November, CIVIC published a letter from 27 women detained at WCDF that recorded abuses at the facility, including being frequently locked up for hours and being forced to use bags in their cells when they needed to use the toilet. (See related article.)

“I am very grateful to CIVIC because they were of great help and support to my immigration case. It was hell where I was detained. They kept us in a precarious situation,” expressed Nancy Mayer Mejia, who was detained for five months at WCDF and penned the letter that 26 other women then signed onto. “Thanks to the people of CIVIC, I believed in myself again. They brought hope into my life during every visit.”

Sheriff David Livingston, center, speaks with Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (to his left) and staff during a tour of the West County Detention Facility in Richmond on Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. Herald file photo.

Since November, CIVIC has continued to speak out in newspapers, on the radio, in community meetings, and at peaceful protests outside the facility. The letter from the women in detention led to calls for investigations from local representatives, including U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, who called for a federal probe into the matter.

A Sheriff’s Department investigation found that nearly all of the complaints were unfounded and unsubstantiated. Claims of being “locked down” for 23 hours a day were found to be false. The most time any ICE detainee was confined to their dormitory room was one hour and 24 minutes. The “lock downs” are commonly done for facility counts or for administrative reasons. At WCDF the detainees have keys to their rooms and free use of common bathroom facilities.

In one example, the person who complained in the article of being confined to her room for 23 hours was in fact confined for several days in a room with a full toilet and sink. She was confined in such a manner for disciplinary purposes after she assaulted another detainee.

Regarding the use of “red” biohazard bags for toilet needs, there was no evidence that any detainee was forced to use the bags in that manner. In very few cases detainees did use the bags for that purpose in violation of policy. Biohazard bag distribution is now limited to those detainees who are ill or have other medical needs. All inmates are free to use the bathrooms at any time, and even during “lock down” periods of approximately one hour, by notifying a Deputy Sheriff by using the call button in their rooms. (See related article.)

“CIVIC volunteers play an essential role in supporting people in ICE detention and their families. When we are informed about human rights abuses at the hands of the government, it is our moral and civic responsibility to speak up and share the demands of those on the inside with the public,” said Rebecca Merton, CIVIC’s National Visitation Network Coordinator and Independent Monitor and the local coordinator of the WCDF visitation program.

On February 15, ICE terminated CIVIC’s free hotline with no advance warning or subsequent explanation. CIVIC has been operating this hotline since 2011 and uses it to facilitate visits and legal representation. Shortly thereafter, on February 20, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office suspended CIVIC visitation program coordinator Rebecca Merton’s visitation clearance with no clear explanation. After pressing the Sheriff’s Office for a reason, CIVIC leadership received an email on Monday from Captain Kristi Butterfield of WCDF, explaining that the Sheriff’s Office was revoking access for all CIVIC volunteers and terminating the visitation program at WCDF. The email explained that they had conducted a “thorough investigation” into CIVIC’s “emails, phone calls, radio and newspaper interviews” and found that “the organization poses a safety and security risk to the WCDF.”

“ICE and the county are trying to make us choose between our First Amendment rights and visiting our friends in ICE detention. This is not a choice that our government can legally ask us to make,” Fialho stated. “The constitution isn’t optional. It can’t be disregarded in an attempt to silence critics of the immigration detention system.”

After various local, state, and federal legislators sent inquiries to the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office and ICE about CIVIC’s program termination, the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department released a statement on March 8 on Facebook, stating that CIVIC volunteers had violated certain policies and procedures.

Since 2011 with the full knowledge of ICE and WCDF staff, CIVIC has been providing up to $20 of commissary money to people in detention so that they can buy food to supplement their meager meals at the facility. This is money CIVIC has raised from donations from churches and synagogues around the Bay Area. Since 2011 with the full knowledge of ICE and WCDF staff, CIVIC has been fielding phone calls and mail from people in ICE detention through the hotline extension ICE provided CIVIC and through other phone calls initiated by people in ICE detention. All regular phone calls and mail are monitored by the facility. CIVIC has never sent contraband to people in ICE detention. We have only sent religious and literary texts requested by people in ICE detention such as Catholic prayer books directly from book publishers. Since 2011 with the full knowledge of ICE and WCDF staff, CIVIC has provided people in ICE detention at WCDF and their ICE officer and immigration judge with the home addresses of the volunteers so that our volunteers can serve as sponsors to the people in ICE detention eligible for release. This is often the only way an asylum seeker can get released on parole.

Lesbia Karina Pérez Vásquez, a 21-year-old woman who fled Guatemala and was detained at WCDF, was one individual who benefited from this type of support: “When I was first picked up by ICE I was frightened and felt so alone. At WCDF I was told by other women that CIVIC came in every Friday to visit. We would all get excited that a friendly face was coming to see us,” she explained. Carmen Jimenez-Smith, a CIVIC volunteer began to visit Ms. Pérez Vásquez and worked with other CIVIC volunteers to fundraise for Ms. Pérez Vásquez’s immigration bond. She was released on February 1. Ms. Pérez Vásquez continued: “Señora Carmen placed me in her home and is continuing to host me and help me gain legal status. I’m so grateful for CIVIC.”

The policies, which all CIVIC volunteers are required to sign is essentially a contract of adhesion. The policy specifically says that volunteers should not “contact or correspond with inmate or with any member of the inmate’s family except as required by the employee’s assigned duties.” CIVIC volunteers are not employees of the facility, but even if they were, their assigned duties are to visit people and provide them with the support they need to address complaints and obtain their freedom through the immigration legal system.

“The money we provide people in ICE detention, so they can buy food serves as a major source of revenue for the facility along with the phone calls,” said Christina Mansfield, the co-founder/executive director of CIVIC. “Both commissary items and phone calls are exorbitantly priced. The money the facility obtains from the commissary and the phone calls are deposited in something called the ‘Inmate Welfare Fund.’ However, there is little accountability or transparency on how this money is spent. Up until now, the money we have been sending to people in ICE detention has served the facility just fine. But now, that we are speaking out against the system, the facility has decided that we no longer are serving them and we must be silenced.”

The visitation program ban came the day before Attorney General Jeff Sessions filed a suit against California’s sanctuary laws, including AB 103, which CIVIC helped draft and provides the California state Attorney General with the power to monitor ICE detention facilities in the state. In Sessions’ complaint, he explicitly names the WCDF as a place he does not want the state monitoring.

“Please join us in telling ICE and the Sheriff’s Department that we will not be silent,” Fialho added. “It’s time we #BreaktheICE.”

The organization will hold a community vigil on Sunday, March 11 from 11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. to “Support CIVIC and Protest Inhumane Conditions at WCDF” outside the West County Detention Facility, 5555 Giant Hwy, Richmond, CA 94806.

By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

On Thursday, February 22, 2018, David J. LeValley, special agent in charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, announced the arrest of Jermaine Lee Hicks, 41, of Atlanta on outstanding arrest warrants in Contra Costa County, California. Hicks was taken into custody without incident at a residence on Ramsey Close in Southwest Atlanta

Hicks is a suspect in a triple shooting in North Richmond. On January 22, 2018, Deputies responded to a report of a shooting on the 500 block of Market Street in North Richmond. When Deputies arrived, they found three men suffering from gun-shot wounds. All were taken to a hospital and have since recovered.

Detectives from the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff began investigating the case and later identified Hicks as the suspect in the shootings. The case was presented to the DA’s Office, which filed attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon charges against Hicks. An arrest warrant was issued for him.

At this time, Hicks is being held at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta awaiting extradition to Contra Costa County.

The public should be reminded that the above are merely allegations and that all persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

The Bayo Vista Youth Mural Project is the successful product of an art appreciation class taught by noted Bay Area artist Fred Alvarado. The class is part of the Bayo Vista Community Livability Community Initiative sponsored by the Office of the Sheriff, in partnership with the Housing Authority of Contra Costa County.

The Office of the Sheriff is hosting a dedication ceremony for the mural at the Bayo Vista Community is located at 1 California Street in Rodeo, today, Wednesday, February 21, 2018, at 4:30 PM.

The Youth Mural Project was developed to provide an opportunity for youth living in Bayo Vista to learn more about the influence of art in our communities. The students met with Alvarado three days a week with the goal of designing a mural for the outside wall of the Office of the Sheriff substation. Alvarado worked with the group to come up with a theme and design for the mural and explored their ideas of inspiration and symbolism to be represented in the art work. They titled the mural “Future” to represent the students’ concept of the future and to reinforce the importance of education, knowledge, community, teachers, leaders, innovators, and inspiration.

Contra Costa Community College District (CCCCD) chancellor Fred E. Wood announced Contra Costa College (CCC) president Mojdeh Mehdizadeh will return to the District Office as executive vice chancellor of Education and Technology effective March 15, 2018. The chancellor has also selected retired Santa Monica College president/superintendent Dr. Chui L. Tsang as interim president of Contra Costa College. Formal approval of the appointments will take place at the Governing Board’s February 28, 2018, meeting.

“I asked Mojdeh to consider returning to the District Office because we need her skills and experience to help all three colleges”, says chancellor Wood. “Her unique and extraordinary skill set is needed to guide the District and the three colleges in contributing to the many statewide initiatives like Guided Pathways, the academic and student services innovations needed to respond to state requests and mandates, and the integration of technology with the academic mission all of which will enable us to better track and increase student success. While I know how important she has been to Contra Costa College and how much she has cares about CCC, both of us know that this decision is in the best interest of the entire District.”

Her tenure in the position will last just a little more than two years, as she was appointed president of CCC by the CCCCD Board on March 9, 2016. (See related article).

“This was a very difficult decision for me,” said Mehdizadeh. “Contra Costa College is a special place with talented and caring faculty and staff who are deeply committed to the mission of higher education in support of the incredible students. During my three years at Contra Costa College, we have made great progress in growing our enrollment, completing the bond-funded College Center project, and fully staffing the college with new energetic leaders that are the foundation of the college’s future. I have a deeper appreciation for the excellent work being done at the college and will always be grateful for the wonderful opportunity to serve West County.”

Dr. Tsang Appointed Interim President

Dr. Chui L. Tsang

This leadership change is coupled with the opportunity to have Dr. Tsang serve as interim president of Contra Costa College. Dr. Tsang, a highly successful community college leader, retired in July 2015 after a 10-year career as president/superintendent of Santa Monica College. He also held other higher education leadership roles including president of City College of San Jose, dean of the School of Applied Science and Technology at City College of San Francisco and taught at Stanford University and in the School of Education at San Francisco State University.

“I am excited and grateful for this opportunity to serve this college and the West County community”, says Dr. Tsang. “I got my higher education start at CCC so I am a “Comet”, and thanks to that experience it gave me the foundation for my career. I understand the challenges and circumstances of our students because I was just like them when I went here. I look forward to working with the Contra Costa College team in making a difference in the lives of our students and becoming the higher education choice for our community.”

A national recruitment will begin for a permanent college president.

Located in San Pablo, Contra Costa College is one of three colleges in the CCCCD currently serves almost 11,000 students (unduplicated head county) annually. Since 1948, CCC has provided exemplary educational services to hundreds of thousands of residents from the greater West County area and is proud of its diverse student body and commitment to individual student success. Excellent programs such as the Center for Science Excellence, The Advocate newspaper, the green Automotive Services program, Middle College High School, the Nursing program, and the Culinary Arts program are known through the state and the nation. A model of excellence, Contra Costa College prides itself on being one of the finest community colleges in the country.

The CCCCD is one of the largest multi-college community college districts in California. The District serves a population of 1,019,640 people, and its boundaries encompass all but 48 of the 734-square-mile land area of Contra Costa County. The District is also home to Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, as well as educational centers in Brentwood and San Ramon. The District headquarters are located in downtown Martinez. For more information visit www.4cd.edu.

Air sampling done during the Sims Metal Management fire in Richmond earlier this week, shows elevated levels of potentially harmful chemicals and smoke particulates in the area.

Air samples taken by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District at Sims in close proximity to the fire found a high presence of benzene, a known carcinogen. While long-term exposure to benzene can cause cancer, the health impacts of short-term exposure to the levels found during the fire are not known, said CCHS Environmental Health Director Dr. Marilyn Underwood.

Both the air district and CCHS’ Hazardous Materials Response Team measured high particulate readings throughout the night. Smoke particulates can irritate the throat, lungs and eyes, particularly in those with pre-existing lung disease, such as asthma. Very fine particulates can get into the blood stream.

“All smoke is toxic, and all smoke contains particulate matter. Anytime we see smoke we should take precautions in order to minimize exposure,” said Dr. David Goldstein, CCHS Deputy Health Officer.

Existing community monitors in North Richmond, Atchison Village, and Point Richmond and fence line monitors at the Chevron Refinery were also analyzed. Elevated particulate and benzene readings were found by the Point Richmond community air monitor. There were no other elevated readings of any other chemicals that were analyzed or particulates on any of the other monitors.

Dr. Goldstein said we don’t know what the long-term health impacts from the fire will be. What we do know, he said, is people with preexisting respiratory conditions such as asthma may have experienced some symptoms of wheezing and shortness of breath.

If people have concerns about the impact the smoke may have had on their health, they should contact their healthcare provider, Dr. Goldstein recommended.

The fire at Sims Metal Management, located at 600 S. 4th Street in Richmond, started on Tuesday, January 30 around 5 p.m. The Richmond Fire Department ordered residents in surrounding neighborhoods to shelter-in-place because of the heavy smoke from the fire. The shelter-in-place order was lifted the following morning around 4 a.m.

Both suspects are 18 years old

The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office has filed multiple felony charges against Juan Noel Vargas and Genesis Castaneda, both of Patterson, CA that stem from a street sideshow in Richmond. Charges against Vargas include Attempted Murder of a Police Officer and Assault with a Deadly Weapon. Castaneda was charged with Accessory After the Fact, Conspiracy and Falsifying a Police Report.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, January 28, 2018, Richmond Police Officers responded to the intersection of Marina Way and Regatta Blvd following calls from residents concerned about a large crowd and multiple cars spinning donuts at the intersection. As law enforcement arrived on the scene, participants in the sideshow began to disperse. An Officer exited his patrol car and approached on foot. Vargas rapidly accelerated, the Officer was hit and the force of the impact projected the Officer into the air and against the windshield of Vargas’ car.

The Offficer was transported to a local hospital where he was treated for significant injuries including a dislocated shoulder and a head wound which required staples.

The suspect vehicle was abandoned and found a few blocks away. Visual inspection revealed damage to the windshield and body panels to the vehicle.

The defendants are currently in custody awaiting arraignment on the filed charges.

By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

The mission of the Community Warning System (CWS) is to ensure the public gets emergency alerts as quickly and completely as possible once we receive the proper information from the requesting agency. CWS is not an internal notification system for a city or affected jurisdictions.

In regards to yesterday’s fire at Sims Metal Management shop located at 604 S. 4th Street in Richmond, CWS received all of the necessary information from Richmond Fire for an alert at 5:55 PM. There was no request to activate the sirens. The first alert was sent at 6:08 PM through the Telephone Emergency Notification Sys-tem (TENS), which includes phone, text, and email alerts. It is also posted on social media and websites. (See the ABC7 News story about and video of the fire, here).

As the fire continued to burn and produce smoke, and due to a shift in winds, the shelter-in-place needed to be expanded. CWS worked to get updates to additional shelter-in-place areas as they were requested by Richmond Fire and Contra Costa Hazardous Materials Program.

The second alert went out at 6:44 PM, the third alert went out at 7:57 PM, and the last one went out at 8:50 PM. These alerts went to expanded areas at the request of Richmond Fire and the Contra Costa Hazardous Materials Program.

After the situation became somewhat stabilized and it was believed no additional shelter-in-place areas would be needed, a comprehensive map was created that included all affected are-as and was posted in on our website and Facebook page and sent directly to the media.

“In yesterday’s incident, the CWS worked as designed — alerts were sent once all the information was received from the requesting agency,” said Assistant Sheriff Mark Williams. “Mayor Butt’s statement that it took an hour to get out the first alert after receiving the necessary information from Richmond Fire is totally inaccurate, misleading, and presumptuous.”

CWS continually reviews it system and procedures in an effort to improve delivery of alerts. CWS encourages all county residents to receive alerts by registering at http://www.cococws.us and to follow CWS on Twitter and Facebook at CoCoCWS.